Louisville to Raise New Banner Honoring 2013 Championship Team

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A banner honoring the Louisville men's basketball program's 2013 national championship team is officially returning to the rafters of the KFC Yum! Center.

In an email to fans, Louisville athletic director Josh Heird announced that as part of the Cardinals' home game against Clemson on Saturday, Feb. 18 where UofL would "honor the iconic 2013 team with various promotions and recognitions," a new banner would be raised as part of the game-long festivities honoring the 10th anniversary of Louisville's 2013 championship.

However, the banner is going to look a little different than expected. Instead of any mention of winning a championship, it will read "2013 Final Coaches Poll #1."

Heird says the decision to raise a banner with this verbiage came "after productive communication with the NCAA staff and Committee on Infractions," and that he was "grateful to the NCAA for their guidance.

In a separate email to members of the 2013 championship team, Heird said he was hoping to raise a proper championship banner in the future following more discussions with the NCAA.

"Yes, in a perfect world, we would all love to have a banner hanging that says "NATIONAL CHAMPIONS," and I continue to remain hopeful that one day, that will indeed happen," he wrote. "We will continue dialogue with the NCAA, with the hope of one day truly recognizing each of you for all that you accomplished. Until then, I hope each of you can see this as a step in the direction we are wanting to go."

This past November when the IARP released their ruling on the infractions case against Louisville, one where the Cardinals able to avoid major penalties, the prospect of raising the 2013 banner was posed by throngs of Louisville fans on social media.

Heird knows how important doing so would be for the Louisville community, but admitted he would have to take up the matter with the NCAA first in order to do so.

"Those are conversations I need to have with the NCAA. This isn't just as simple as rolling down to the arena tonight," he said back in November. "In all seriousness, 2013 was an extremely, extremely important year to this program. I think everybody knows what happened during March and the first week of April in 2013. While that's never going to be taken away from our fans, from our student athletes that played in that game, to recognize them is important to me. If there's an avenue to get that done, that's what we're going to try to do."

In June of 2017, Louisville's 2013 national championship was vacated as a result of the Andre McGee and Katina Powell sex scandal that occurred under former head coach Rick Pitino. This led to the vacation of not only the 2013 title, but the 2012 Final Four banner and 123 total wins.

Tip-off between the Cardinals and Tigers on Saturday, Feb. 18 is set for 7:00 p.m. EST. Before that game, Louisville will take on Virginia at home on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Louisville's championship banners: Timothy D. Easley - Associated Press)

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